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Subwoofer in the corner? Forget about it

Since installing new horn speakers, I have been learning a little about extracting their best performance. They require some effort and knowledge to get right - and the effort is the easy part.

Following "common wisdom", I placed the sub in the left corner, to the rear and outside of the left main speaker. The result was a disaster.

Boomy, one note bass, little tone and texture, very uneven response at different locations in the room, and no musical connection. This wasn't good enough for screening reruns of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" on a HT set-up.

I repositioned the sub to the midpoint of the right-side wall. Now, it is a little forward and to the side of the right main speaker. Initial results are promising: Lower bass output (expected going from 3 corner boundaries to 2 wall/floor boundaries), coupled with musical LF, toneful and engaging. The difference between just moving alot of air and making proper musical bass is huge.

Here are two articles I found interesting:

http://www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/loudspeakers/SubwooferplacementP1.php

both use models and measurements to confirm my listening experience - corner loading the sub is loud and rough, compared with other locations. And multiple subs are smoother than a single sub. Now, I just have to bite the bullet and make room for another refrigerator sized horn sub in my listening room.

scott

Listening room: 15' x 18', suspended wood floor
Music used to evaluate sound:
Rachmaninoff, piano concerto 2
Astor Piazolla, Adios Ninos
Saint Saens, organ symphony 3
Rodrigo, concierto de Aranjuez
Doctor John, Duke elegant
Joe Pass, Portraits of duke Elington
skushino
ekovalsky
16 posts
 
Put your pair of subwoofers in the corners and add a DSP correction/crossover device, like the TacT RCS 2.2X or DEQX PDC-2.6. Result -- maximum SPL, optimal transient response, no room resonances resulting in "bass boom", perfect time/phase and amplitude integration with the mains, and a steep crossover keeping the upper bass and lower midrange in the main channels where they belong.

With such a DSP device the corners are the best place for the subs. Conversely without such equipment the corners are probably going to be the worst location.
kgveteran
193 posts
 
Even better I placed my two subwoofer cabinets on their sides in front of the center channel speaker.There are no suppoorting walls, just the floor.The output dropped about6-8db but it was quite smooth.Corners stink.
skushino OP
91 posts
 
I've lived with the Seismic Sub against the sidewall for a week or so. This location continues to work for me, the benefits outweigh the single drawback of lowered output. Bass quality is pretty nice now.

So, do I spring for a second huge subwoofer for the opposite wall? This hobby is getting ouit of control!
warrenh's avatar
warrenh
2,286 posts
 
I have never had good experience with subs in the corner. I like mine right next (inches) from my mains. Makes seamless integration much easier to attain. I was very happy with one 10" sub in my last place, but looking back (I had the room for 2) two 12 inchers would have been better. Certainly, at loud volumes, with heavy bass lines, larger subs can crank and be very impressive, but they do just as well, at very low volumes, enriching bass Hz that the little guys have trouble with. In fact, that is what I appreciate the most. IMHO... warren :)

BTW, after oodles of tinkering, listening, back and forth from listening chair to subs, I found 50 Hz and 12 o'clock on the gain to be just right for my tympanics/room.-I adjusted the crossover by ear alone. When my rig sounded right? Whatever that Hz be it be. 50 in this case. The listening room dictates the crossover. Spoke to Jeff, the owner creator of James Loudspeakers. He does his subs the same way and recommends that to all two channel audiophools.
lrsky
1,118 posts
 
Listen to Warren--do it by ear.
You're getting 6db+ of non linear bass reinforcement in corners.
Larry
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